Best beer garden weather. However, one of the most attractive beer gardens in the entire district of Munich will not be served this summer either. The castle inn in the Schleißheim castle ensemble has been closed since 2014 for renovation, and at the end of 2019 the replacement gastronomy and thus the beer garden were also closed. In addition to the delays in the reopening, there is now the next big price increase. The Bavarian state parliament has released 2.8 million euros in additional funds for the state-owned traditional inn, bringing the total cost of the renovation to 15.5 million euros. The planning started with an estimated cost of 10.3 million euros.
The renewed lookup is justified in particular with the wage and material price increases in construction. According to the Bavarian Ministry of Finance, the price increases alone for the 98 percent of orders awarded so far add up to 1.8 million euros. Another almost one million euros had become necessary because, compared to the first supplement in 2020, more than 2.4 million euros, there was again an unexpected need for work in the old building. According to the ministry, ongoing work had to be adapted to findings from the progress of construction and new tasks had become necessary.
In the state parliament, the Greens deputies from the district have massively criticized the procedure. “In the meantime, the renovation costs 50 percent more than planned,” complains Claudia Köhler. “If the state government hadn’t put off the measure from the start, we would have saved a lot of tax money.” Markus Büchler, who lives within sight of the construction site, says: “I don’t understand the Free State of Bavaria. A private company that would do business like this and can’t give any concrete data would have been bankrupt long ago.” Despite four years of advance planning, “new problems keep cropping up that good planning would have recognized in advance”.
“The building administration stumbles from problem to problem,” says MP Markus Büchler
With the long closure of the restaurant, the state also loses considerable rental income, not to mention the loss for the castle ensemble. “Schloss Schleißheim needs a clever economy directly at the castle”, complains Büchler. The inn is part of the Old Castle and its basic features date back to the early 17th century. The oldest surviving components were dated 1615. The restaurant, which was renovated to a lesser extent in 1986, is now to be fundamentally revised in terms of monument protection. In addition, the restaurant operation is to be completely modernized after more than 30 years. According to the Ministry of Finance, the aim of the expansion is “to integrate an efficient gastronomy with the modern requirements for operating processes, hygiene and access for the disabled into the existing historical building structure”.
Unexpected problems still arose on the last stage. According to the ministry, it was only after the roof tiles were removed that it was possible to determine how defective the wall sleepers were. The repair of the support structure for the roof had to be carried out without dismantling the existing building because historical ceiling coverings had been discovered. In the kitchen, the instantaneous water heaters were initially undersized, there was no more space for radiators in several rooms, so ceiling heating had to be installed. And then the gutters were stolen from the construction site. “It looks as if the building authorities are stumbling from one problem to the next,” Büchler reproaches. “The taxpayers suffer the damage.”
The castle restaurant has been closed since the death of landlord Karl Blass. That’s eight years ago now.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
The restaurant was closed in 2014, triggered by the death of long-time host Karl Blass. Construction work only started in 2018. From 2014 to 2019, a provisional “Schlossalm” provided at least for gastronomy and beer garden operations, but with the increase in construction site activity, it gave up again. “I’m just happy when it’s finally finished,” sighs Oberschleißheim’s mayor Markus Böck (CSU), “and the castle restaurant can once again be a point of contact for Schleißheim and beyond.”
Completion is now scheduled for November. A new lease agreement has apparently not yet been concluded. The Ministry of Finance calculated for the state parliament that the horrendous investment, including the two addenda, was not only mandatory for reasons of monument protection, but would also pay for itself from an economic point of view. In view of the expected lease income, the investment part will be settled in about 30 years without expenditure for the maintenance of the substance.